8 réponses à ce sujet

[KingJason13]

I kept having "Oh, great, this goona be SOOOOO cool!" moments as the game unfolded only to have the potential storyline end, without explanation, like some **** tease leaving! Not to mention plot threads from  the last game...

1) How cool would it have been to continue the potential Flemeth story?
2) A GTA style rise to power would have been more interesting than the Champion stumbling into superstardom...
3) Where the F was Morrigan and my Godbaby?
4) How about the real ending to Merril's campanion quest! It must be on the cutting room floor, so to speak...
5) The list could go on...

Was this game just a filler between 1 and 3? Are Flemeth and Morrigan going to be back?

[Icy Magebane]

Yup, seems to be mostly filler and a prologue for DA3... they introduced and failed to fully explain a bunch of new concepts like Red Lyrium, and brought the setting closer to the heart of the continent (Orlais/Tevinter). Set up something regarding the Qunari and kicked off a war that happens the same way no matter what you try to do. Etc...

As for Flemeth and Morrigan... Flemeth will undoubtedly return, since she seems to be the main ... I don't know if "antagonist" is the word. She's the puppetmaster who sets in motion a bunch of grand schemes that will probably be revealed in DA10 (or whenever they cancel the franchise). Morrigan will be back too, but I have no idea what role she might play... that scene where she falls through the mirror if you stab her in Witch Hunt makes it pretty obvious that she's coming back no matter what.

[HogarthHughes 3]

I'm not even sure there will be a DA3. EA may just decide to pull the plug if it doesn't look like it'll be profitable enough. It seems like there is a lot of negativity about DA2 on the general forum and many people lamenting over Origins. They might like to think that they're sending the message that Bioware shouldn't try a rush job again, which I agree with, but they could very well just be telling EA that its not going to be worth it to continue the series.

To be more on-topic, I really wish Meredith and Orsino had more screen time. It was entertaining watching them argue, and Meredith is among my favorite RPG characters. I know its been said quite a bit already, but Act III really could have been much better.

About stuff from Origins, I wouldn't expect things like the Godbaby to really have much of an impact. At least not one the player ever sees, unless they make it canon. As cool as it would be to have decisions from previous games carry over and seem as weighty as they did when they were made, it just isn't realistic. Cameo appearances and a few different lines of dialogue are the best we can hope for. I mean, look at how rushed DA2 was, imagine them trying to write diverging plots depending on our decisions in Origins.

[Foolsfolly]

Yup, seems to be mostly filler and a prologue for DA3... they introduced and failed to fully explain a bunch of new concepts like Red Lyrium, and brought the setting closer to the heart of the continent (Orlais/Tevinter). Set up something regarding the Qunari and kicked off a war that happens the same way no matter what you try to do. Etc...

What Icy said. The closest thing to a plot the game has is that Hawke, refugee and noble, witnesses three important world events that have impacts later.

Hawke's role is as observer...a suffering one at that since Hawke loses pretty much everything, changes nothing, has no affect on anything, and these events have to happen for DA3.

I firmly belief that if you're spending a whole story setting up an interesting story, then you've already failed. Tell the interesting story and use the set up story as prologue and backstory.

Would anyone really have raged to learn that Templars/Mages had entered open conflict and the idea of rebellion kicked off the local wherever Circle into action? And the Qunari thing isn't even new. Sten already told the PC that they would invade later. And that's really all the Qunari plot forwards here too, so...nothing new (although it's the best part of the game).

And the Red Lyrium thing? That could be wrapped up in the more interesting story anyway. I mean it'll have to be reintroduced for new players in DA3 anyway, so just having it have a cameo in this story does nothing for anything.

[Thothistox]

The Flemeth story was a real red herring for me. On my first playthrough I was a mage and I had a tendency to miss all the mage vs. templar foreshadowing because of the "invisible mage" plot hole and also because of the early encounter with Flemeth. Since I met her early in the story I thought that she was the main idea of this game. I remembered her return on Sundermount and I kept thinking she'd return again. I was really surprised when I found out that the meat and potatoes of this game was really the clash between mages (including me) and the rather uninspired and inconsistent villians that are the templars. (Kirkwall should have been a scary police state and not aloof and deserted.)

The other foreshadowing also threw me off. I really thought that Alistaire would come back a second time instead of just making a single cameo. I believed in his promise of a war with Orlais. I believed in the warden's talk of "more important" things than the Qunari invasion.

Also I really thought that something interesting would happen when Varric stopped telling his story. I kept imagining that Orlais would invade and Varric would get captured and made to tell his story, and then the Champion would have to come get him and win the day. I was actually rather surprised that Merredith was the last boss.

[Faroth]

The missed potentials for me were:

Political intrigue: With Hawke's family rising back to power, I was expecting there to be a little more political working involved. Other nobles not wanting you to horn in on their power. Families wanting you in power to overthrow another and in turn further their standing. Old enemies of Gamlin's coming back now that his family has power and money.

Flemeth was a set up for later use, mostly just explaining how she survived regardless of your choices in Dragon Age Origins. What irritates me is WHY is she on the promotional art when she has no part in the story?!

Merril rebuilding the mirror. This was an especially hopeful and poignant missed opportunity for me. You see...that was the mirror that led my Warden to becoming a Grey Warden. Since my Warden also went through the mirror with Morrigan, this was like teasing me with a doorway to get a cameo of Morrigan and, perhaps, my Warden. I was sort of expecting a cut scene with Morrigan being seen through the mirror and using magic to destroy it, shattering Merril's work all over again. Alas, no, it was just wishful thinking.

The Resolutionists. When I first came across the lead in to this, I thought "this is exactly what my Hawke has been saying! A reformation of Templar/Circle establishment, more working together than oppressively!" Then it just became "I've waited a long time for this Hawke!" and it was all just an elaborate revenge scheme to lure me into a trap. /sigh

Anders. While his story was predestined to end with a bang, I was disappointed that they didn't follow through with his lie more fully. I was expecting, as his lover, he'd go through with faking the ritual to separate him from Justice and make it seem like it failed and act like he was horribly disappointed by it. Instead....just sort of never said anything again until he blew up the Chantry.

More development of the Templar/Mage conflict. Everywhere we turned we saw evil mages, evil mages, evil mages. I wish there had been more depth to the plight of the mages and the depths of their depravity as well as the corruption of the templars and the nobility among their ranks. It just came across as mages are batsh@( insane blood mage bad guys at the drop of a hat...there's hundreds of them in Kirkwall, but the evil oppressive templars drive them to it because they're really mean and oppressive. Grrr.

I want some knight in shining armor, truly noble Templars and some truly wicked ones to be shown, as well as mages better elaborated (I felt their plight was presented well enough with Anders and if you have Bethany as your sibling) than just having lots of bad mages everywhere. Really show me there's two sides to both coins with each group.

The political maneuvering was the biggest missed opportunity. I remember Final Fantasy Tactics (first half) being a fantastic story about two kingdoms at war with a lot of political angles and backstabbings before it went into "oh, mosters are behind it, save the world" in the last half. DA 2 would have been pretty good for more workings of the viscount, nobles, and the politics of the city instead of fetch, kill, chat.

[Fieryeel]

Ketojan...he should have been a companion.

[Plaintiff]

- The year spent working for mercenaries/smugglers.
- The Coterie: they get mentioned a lot but Hawke has little to no interaction with them.

I don't really agree with any of your suggesstions OP, I'm sorry to say. I think Flemeth's potential would be better utilized over several games. Her role was not especially prominent in Origins either and as for Morrigan and godbaby, well... for some players the godbaby may not exist and Morrigan might be dead, so even if they do choose to follow up on her plotline, it's pretty obvious why they didn't do it right away.

[Foolsfolly]

Fieryeel wrote...

Ketojan...he should have been a companion.

I gotta disagree. I'm generally negative on DA2 but this is something they did right.

They rightfully kept the Qunari alien to Hawke and Hawke's party. They were ellusive and hard to understand, a mysterious but powerful Other in the city. Having one as a companion would dimenish that, in this story. Had the Qunari not been so involved in the storyline then, yes, bring on Ketojan.

But it makes the Qunari impact more...weighted when you're interactions are always impersonal rather than having a personal relationship with one.

It's the same with the Wardens. I never saw the big deal with Wardens likely because I've always been one, they're in the books, they're entirely known to the player.

Then when you put some distance between the PC and the Wardens they become mysterious, aloof, and vaguely threatening. Handing your sibling over to them sounded like such a great idea, I had great adventures, saved the world, and generally had a blast with great companions! What's to hate about being a Warden?

Then your sibling becomes hardened and emotionaless (Bethany in particular) you start thinking....what are they forcing you to do? And then you remember it's a death sentence, which it never felt like in Origins. Then the Wardens have more weight to them exactly because of our distance from them.

It's a great thing. In fact, I'm of a mind that we shouldn't have been Wardens in the first game. Just to have this pre-established weight and mystery to the title. Kind of took the whole Warden thing for granted when it's just a given.